Post by StevePulaski on Feb 7, 2017 13:00:28 GMT -5
Any Given Sunday (1999)
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Directed by: Oliver Stone
Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday.
Rating: ★★★
Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday takes a macro-look at the business of football more than it does the sport, and flashy editing that treads a dangerous line between style and overkill makes heated conversations even more enthralling than on-field action. The story focuses on the fictional football team known as the Miami Sharks, a once-powerful franchise that is fighting to get in the Associated Football Franchises of America (AFFA) playoffs with their their veteran head coach Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino). Tony has coached the team to victory, but that was several years ago, and the late owner's daughter Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz) has now taken over and her patience with Tony's old school, leatherheads-style of football is waning thin.
The opening scene shows a close game turn heartbreaking for the Sharks, as their aging starting quarterback Jack "Cap" Rooney (Dennis Quaid) suffers a severe in-game injury followed by their backup QB Tyler Cherubini (Pat O'Hara) being carted off after one snap. This leaves third-string journeyman Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx) to take over, and he proved to be bull-headed and undisciplined as the Sharks give up the game. With Rooney out until at least the playoffs, Tony has to groom Beamen enough to compete. Eventually, Beamen becomes an effective out-of-pocket quarterback, not afraid to run into or away from potential danger in order to move the ball down the field. The biggest problem with him, however, as a player and a person is his appalling lack of self-discipline. Clutch wins prompt a cocksure demeanor in the promoted twenty-six year old as he starts going on dreaded sports programs lambasting the AFFA organization and systemic racism present in society, as well.
One of the supporting players we get the chance to see is the team's running back Julian Washington (LL Cool J), who becomes increasingly tired of Beamen's "one man army" attitude as the season persists on, as he simply wants to exercise the agreement in his contract that will get him extra money if he gains enough yards. Then there's Luther "Shark" Lavay (Lawrence Taylor), the team's franchise middle linebacker who is nearing the end of his career, as he's taking ore and more cortisone injections than he is making plays on the field.
Tony has his hands full, especially when faced with Pagniacci, who is always working behind the back of the front office to secure new stadium or contract deals. She's also close with the team's offensive coordinator Nick Crozier (Aaron Eckhart) in a business sense, alluding to him that he will be Tony's successor once the team is expected to miss the playoffs and he is subsequently fired. Tony spends his nights alone at bars, boozing himself into a hangover while watching sports highlights on TV that do nothing but agitate him. Occasionally, this monotony is interrupted by inviting a callgirl back to his place, but often he spends nights arguing with either Pagniacci or Beamen, who loves changing playcalls last minute against both his and Nick's wishes.
Another subplot involves Dr. Harvey Mandrake, played by James Woods in a performance as slithering and contemptible as his in Casino, a doctor who values kickbacks and coverups in terms of evaluating players more so than addressing their mental and physical ability. He butts heads with Tony late in the film in a truly captivating, heart-pounding sequence.
This is such a tough scope to nail and, in a narrative sense, Stone and cowriter John Logan nail the challenge extremely well. The characters feel developed and intriguing, even if they are also assisted by terrific performances across the board, particularly by Quaid, Pacino, and Foxx each playing very different roles. Quaid nails the aging, conflicted star who is abused by his wife whenever he has the gall to make decisions for himself, Pacino paints a complex character in a marginally sympathetic but constantly riveting light, and Foxx's narcissism always makes him unlikable just as much as it makes him admirable in some moments. Consider when Tony and Beamen are eating dinner and Tony is talking to Beamen from his own personal context of seeing players like him come and go routinely, while Beamen is speaking to Tony in his personal context of him not understanding his struggles nor his unique situation. This kind of generational divide handicaps and defines their relationship over the course of the film in the best possible way.
The only thing that Any Given Sunday suffers from is its sporadically abysmal cinematography and frantic editing pace (perhaps the fact that it was edited by four different individuals speaks to the end result). Oliver Stone and cinematographer Salvatore Totino clearly want to capture the insanity and nonstop action of American football, yet the scenes on the field are filled with more crosscutting, quick-cuts, jump-cuts, lens flare, and fading than your average action movie, and during long stretches of gameplay (the entire third act is a football game) it wears on your mind very quickly. This is where the film could've benefited from less nineties-era spectacle and more North Dallas Forty-like conviction.
Yet Any Given Sunday is so potent in character and narrative it's frequently impossible to ignore. A lengthy runtime (over two and a half hours) and a large-scope create an open range for Stone in which to play and navigate what makes him the committed and contemplative filmmaker he is. Give him some truly capable actors in great performances in addition and you have a formula as good as a smothering defense trying to stop a high-scoring, reckless offense.
Starring: Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, LL Cool J, Lawrence Taylor, Ann-Margaret, and Pat O'Hara. Directed by: Oliver Stone.